Today we take a look at another extraordinary, but challenging, video offering from Xiu Xiu‘s most recent LP Angel Guts: Red Classroom, out now on Polyvinyl. The video for “Cinthya’s Unisex” is directed by the French graphic designer Florent Texier, and it’s use of children’s drawings, in conjunction with the track’s erotically charged lyrical content, which is also displayed as text beneath the illustrations as though narrating pages of a kids book, is sure to make some folks squirm, and others protest; but Jamie Stewart‘s fearless pursuit of the realms of the Id, and it’s difficult emotional content, is without peer, and truly the “stuff” of art!
Later this month, Xiu Xiu will kick off a series of art and music events in New York City, before leaving for a tour of Europe at the end of October. Stewart will pair with the conceptual artist Danh Vo on a piece called Metal at The Kitchen in Manhattan, set to run September 27th through October 18th. Part of this exhibition will find Jamie performing alongside gold leaf pounders from Thailand, where Vo sources the gold leaf he uses in his art, and the ensemble will perform rhythmically driven pieces while Vo’s finished artwork is displayed. In addition, Xiu Xiu will also present Kling Klang! on September 28th at the Dumbo Arts Festival. The performance/art piece will find Stewart attaching 999 vibrating instruments to the copper sheets which make up Vo’s installation We The People, creating a sustained chord whose tones will change as the batteries on the vibrating instruments slowly run out of power. Xiu Xiu will also play live at Glasslands in Brooklyn on October 18th before leaving for his European tour later in the month. Tour dates are listed below the video embed…
Xiu Xiu European Tour 2014:
10/18: Brooklyn, NY @ Glasslands w/Yvette
10/28: Bologna, Italy @ Lokomotiv – Gender Bender Fest (experimental set)
10/30: Warsaw, Poland @ Center of Art Modern
10/31: Prague, Czech Republic @ Podnik
11/01: Ebensee, Austira @ Kino
11/02: Vienna, Austria @ WUK
11/03: Budweiss, Czech Republic @ Ostinato
11/04: Ljubljana, Slovenia @ Kino Siska
11/05: Budapest, Hungary @ GMK
11/06: Gun Club, Belgrade, Serbia @ Gun Club
11/07: Skopje, Macedonia @ Art Cinema Frosina
11/08: Thessaloniki, Greece @ Eightball Club
11/09: Athens, Greece @ Six Dogs
11/11: Lecce, Italy @ ARCI Rubik
11/12: Rome, Italy @ Circolo Degli Artisti
11/13: Milan, Italy @ Masada
11/14: Bern, Switzerland @ Dampfzentrale w/ Hidden Cameras
11/15: Le Locle, Switzerland @ LUX
11/16: Clermont Ferrand, France @ Raymond Bar
11/17: Paris, France @ Espace B
11/19: Brussels, Belgium @ DNA (Autumn Falls Festival)
11/20: Utrecht, Netherlands @ Le Guess Who (Swans event)
